"Fun Stuff" From My Class Yesterday

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Yesterday was our first class...no dogs for the first session.  I had such a great time.  This trainer (a woman who has been training for 39 years) is hysterically funny.  There are six of us in the class, and we laughed for 90 minutes straight.  There was very little discussion of actual "training"....it was mostly her talking in general about dogs.  Here are a few of the "tidbits" she had to share...

• Dogs learn by "guiding/prompting" or by what she terms "overlay".  Overlay is when a particular behavior occurs and we then assign a value or word to it, and she believes this is a very effective way of teach.  So, if your dog lays down, and you say "down" immediately with a "Yes", eventually they will associate that word with that action.  She said it's often misused because humans aren't clear about what they're communicating.  For example...Murphy barks, and I say in an excited voice "quiet".   He has no idea what that word means, but if I do it often enough every time he hears the word "quiet" he will think he should be barking.  So, dog barks, human says "quiet", dog barks again, human says "quiet", and on and on.  If you wait until the second the dog stops barking and then say "quiet" it will create the correct association.  Obvious, right.  I never thought of it that way. 
• She doesn't "pay" the dog for doing what's expected, but she does "pay well" for the "hard stuff".  So, for short sits or downs, or walking well on a leash no pay (treats).  For recalls, a big payout.  She said she never paid her kids for making their bed or picking up their dishes.  That's an expectation because you're putting a roof over their head, feeding, them and giving them love.  But if they go out and wash the car, the get paid because that's "extra".  She treats her dogs the same way.
• She talked about the 3 "D"s of training....duration, distance, and distraction. 
• She thinks that "focus" as defined by having the dog look at you is overrated.  She says in the real world the dog will probably not be looking at you when you MOST need them to behave, so requiring them to look at you during training doesn't buy you much.
• She shared a story of a woman who had recently called her and said "each day when the kids get home from school, the dog grabs their papers and runs away with them".  The trainer said "EVERY day?".....the woman said "yes, EVERY day".  The trainer asked how long this had been going on, and the woman responded "quite a while".  She wanted to know what to do about it.  She told the woman to just NOT LET THE DOG DO IT....EVER AGAIN!  Everything your dog does, he does because in that moment in time, in that situation he thought it was the right thing to do.  The best way to change the dog's behaviors is to prevent the dog from practicing them.  She told her to crate the dog when the kids get home or to keep a leash on him.  This true of so many inappropriate household behaviors.  It's all about supervision, supervision, supervision.  She explained why she did not recommend using commands for "household rules".  Very interesting.
• "In our training, all your dog has to do is breathe".  We're going to show him exactly what to do every time.  That's a whole discussion of it's own.
• The most difficult challenge is going to be to learn to react appropriately when a dog is acting inappropriately because they are "not thinking"....when a chemical reaction has "taken them over".  That's my Murph (and there are two other dogs with the exact same issue in the class).  I can't wait to learn more about this.

So, those are just a few "tidbits" from yesterday.  Fun stuff...some pretty basic, but some thought provoking.  I think her style is totally aligned with my private trainer, so I have no worries about that.  He will be around other "reactive" dogs....great distractions.  More to come.  I'm hopeful that this along with the private trainer will help us to turn the corner.  I'm forever the optimist. 

[Adina P]

I think it would depend on how you intend to use "Quiet" -- Obviously you could use different words like "Turkey" or "Louder" and the dog doesn't know what the human meaning is until you teach it. One of my friends taught his lab to sit at the word "Charge".   Often people will ask "How do you get your dog to stop doing X or do Y?"  And someone else will say "I use the command ____ or say ___"  But it's not the words they are saying that matter...it is what they taught their dog to DO when they hear those words.  It's the teaching that goes with those words.

 

If you want to teach the dog quiet as a 'command' then you'd want to not say it while the dog is barking unless you've already taught it separately from the barking episode.

 

On the other hand if "QUIET" is just the word you say as a warning for a consequence or as a punishment in itself (because you say it like you mean it and your voice commands them to 'cut it out')--the way you'd say NO! then it probably wouldn't matter.   But if your attempts at getting her to stop barking by saying "Quiet" (or any word) are NOT working then you obviously need you to say it with more OOMPH or   you need to take Gracie aside and teach her what you want her response to that 'command' to be ... or as this trainer is saying attempt to teach it by pairing it with the RIGHT behavior (quietness) over and over until a link is formed in Gracie's brain. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Jane, this sounds good.  Why do we know this stuff with our children and then not with our dogs?  Like, if you don't want the dog to take the papers, change his access! I know our trainer said that he pays the bills and not the dog, and if he wants the dog to walk with him then the dog is going to walk with him - not negotiable.  Kind of the same thing.

I am sick and tired of the way our dogs (led by Gordie) greet us at the door.  I have been waiting for them to have good enough stay mastery.  I guess I need to do some thinking about stopping the wildness availabiltiy vs door access. We have always had this problem - but it used to be only Gordie and the controls our old sweet Simon exerted on the others and even dampering down Gordie's wild enthusiasm are no longer there.

[Elaine Leitelt]

Jane, sounds like you "hit the jackpot" with this class.  Please continue to share any "goodies" you find. 

Maddie & I start a new class tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it.  Rowdy Rover class (Explanation below).

Is your dog a bit unruly, overly-excited or just lacking manners around other dogs? This class will teach management, handling, and training techniques to reduce reactive and aggressive behavior by their dogs toward other dogs, especially while on leash. Dog owners will learn how to:

• Discern dogs' body language
• Increase focus
• Replace negative behavior with positive association
• Act when around other dogs
• To remain calm when walking by other dogs
• Use the clicker to help shape desired behaviors

• Act when around other dogs
• To remain calm when walking by other dogs
• Use the clicker to help shape desired behaviors

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Elaine, this sounds like a wonderful class.  It would be fantastic if you could also share what you learn as many of us are coping with reactiveness around other dogs.

[Leslie and Halas]

The class and instructor sound great.  Be sure to post more about it as you go along.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Jane, You are lucky to find a class like this in your area. It sounds great. Keep us posted.

[Pam & Trixie]

Im just seeing this thread today.

it sounds very interesting & certainly makes sense to me.

Jane how is the Class/ Training going?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

He had his final class and "graduation" last Thursday.  The class was great, and I think all the exposure to other dogs helped Murphy (and me) with his "reactiveness" issues.  We are definitely going to continue to take more classes at this facility.